Robert Barke, ex-Broomfield gymnastics coach, found not guilty of sexually assaulting 2 teens

Defendant says he's happy to 'get my life back'

By Megan Quinn, Enterprise Staff Writer

Posted:
08/08/2014 11:26:49 AM MDT

Robert Barke, seen in court on Thursday, was acquitted of all charges at the conclusion of his Broomfield sexual assault trial. (David R. Jennings / Broomfield Enterprise)

A former Broomfield gymnastics coach accused of sexually assaulting two of his students was found not guilty on all counts this morning.

Robert Barke, 33, was accused of sexually assaulting the two teenage boys from October 2004 to June 2007 while he was their gymnastics coach at Xtreme Altitude Gymnastics in Broomfield.

The jury found him not guilty of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust, sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust as a pattern of abuse, sexual assault on a child and unlawful sexual contact.

The jury, which began deliberating the case late Thursday morning, reached its verdict around 10:30 a.m. Friday.

Barke began to cry when the verdict was read, and his family and friends cried and smiled. Families and friends of the alleged victims stayed silent and left the courtroom after court was adjourned.

Barke declined to comment on the trial, but thanked his family and friends who came to the courthouse to support him. Before leaving the courtroom, the group said a short prayer of thanks.

He told the group he was relieved and happy to "get my life back."

During closing statements Thursday morning, the prosecution told the jury Barke was an authority figure the teens looked up to, loved and trusted, but he abused and manipulated that trust for his own sexual gratification.

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The defense, however, said Barke was a caring mentor, and that the sex assaults were made-up stories the teens fabricated for unknown reasons.

Barke's lawyers asked the jury to find him not guilty because of holes in the stories told by the two alleged victims.

Lawyers said the two told investigators they could not remember many key details of the alleged incidents, but had time to embellish the story with made-up details in the year between the time the first alleged victim went to police and the start of the trial.

The prosecution countered that the former gymnasts did not make up the story, but rather struggled for years with the trauma and shame before deciding to come forward.

That shame and trauma was compounded by the fact that the two former gymnasts had idolized their coach, prosecutors said.

The two alleged victims, who were teens at the time of the alleged assaults and are now 21 and 22, testified Tuesday. They told the jury that they looked up to Barke until "things changed."

Both victims, who attended Xtreme Altitude around the same time but were not friends until after quitting gymnastics, told the jury Barke showed them porn, asked them to masturbate in front of him or touched them inappropriately.

One testified he sometimes shared a hotel room with Barke during gymnastics competitions, and that some of the sexual acts happened during those hotel stays.

During one road trip, the two played truth or dare, and the alleged victim said he "somehow ended up naked" in the car.

During the second day of the trial on Wednesday, Barke testified that he never inappropriately touched the gymnasts, never showed them pornography and that he never made sexual advances toward any gymnast.

Barke said he did share hotel rooms with one of the alleged victims from time to time, because it was common for gymnasts and coaches to save money by staying together in larger rooms.

The second alleged victim, who also testified Tuesday, said Barke was his coach on and off when he was a teen, and that Barke would help him during private lessons and often drive him home afterward. He said he had about seven sexual encounters with Barke, including at Xtreme Altitude, in the office at the gym and at Barke's apartment.

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